6 Step PAS 1899 Checklist for Accessible EV Charging in the UK
PAS 1899 is the UK standard for accessible public EV charging: to make a charger genuinely usable, you must design the unit, the parking bay and the accompanying information together. The three pillars are accessible hardware, an accessible surrounding environment, and accessible data and signage. If you own or manage a site, the practical next step is to use PAS 1899 as your specification baseline, and bring in an installer who already builds to it.
TL;DR:
Ensuring compliance with reach measurements from ground level and offering multiple payment options are critical to making EV chargers accessible to all users.
Adequate bay dimensions, level surfaces, and proper signage are essential to prevent physical and visual obstacles for disabled drivers.
Publishing detailed accessibility data through OCPI enables users to filter chargers based on their specific needs before arrival.
Following a comprehensive site survey, design, and testing process aligned with PAS 1899 significantly reduces retrofitting costs and accessibility failures.
Local authority trials highlight common issues like insufficient maneuvering space and missing kerb ramps, emphasizing the importance of early planning.
Table of Contents
What PAS 1899 covers and why accessible EV charging matters now
PAS 1899:2022 is the specification the British Standards Institution published to give the UK a single reference point for accessible public charging, co-sponsored by the Motability Foundation and the Office for Zero Emission Vehicles (OZEV). Before it existed, accessibility was scattered across general disability guidance and individual manufacturers’ goodwill. Now there is one document that sets measurable requirements for reach, force, layout and information.
The urgency is real. With the UK’s plan to end new petrol and diesel car sales in the coming years, charging infrastructure has to work for every driver, not just the able-bodied majority who can currently tolerate a badly sited unit. Disabled drivers report abandoning charge points because of:
Sockets mounted too high or too low to reach from a seated position
Bays too narrow to deploy a wheelchair ramp or hoist
Cables too heavy to lift, coil or insert unaided
PAS 1899 draws a line between minimum requirements (mandatory baseline provisions) and recommendations (best practice that goes further). A compliant site meets the minimum; a genuinely accessible one aims for the recommendations wherever budget allows.
Hardware and unit design: what installers must get right
The charger itself is where most compliance failures start, usually because reach measurements were taken from the wrong reference point. PAS 1899 and the EU accessibility guidelines both specify that reach ranges must be measured from the user’s actual ground-level approach position, not from an assumed pavement height.
Get these right before you sign off on installation:
Socket height and reach: check against seated and standing reach zones, not a single fixed dimension
Socket visibility and cover operation: covers should open with minimal force and without fine motor precision
Insertion and removal force: test with a representative range of users, not just staff
Cable weight: fast DC chargers use heavier, cooled cables that many people cannot lift unaided
Payment options: offer contactless or RFID alongside any app, since an app-only unit excludes drivers without a smartphone or with limited dexterity
Pro Tip: Specify the assist type (reel or suspended cable) by name in your procurement documents, and ask your installer for cable management options suited to fast-charging cable weight rather than accepting whatever the manufacturer defaults to.
Cable handling deserves particular attention on faster units. A UK events-cabling specialist’s practical guide makes the same point in a different context: heavy cable runs need a mechanical assist, not just goodwill from the person using them.
Bay layout and the built environment around the charger
A perfectly specified unit fails if the bay around it cannot be manoeuvred into. Wheelchair users need enough width to deploy a side ramp or hoist, and mobility-aid users need level, non-slip ground between the parking space and the charger.
Design the environment around these points:
Bay dimensions: allow generous manoeuvring space beyond a standard car bay, following the principles in Inclusive Mobility guidance on pedestrian and transport infrastructure
Dropped kerbs and gradient: the route from bay to charger must be level or ramped, never a step
No raised plinths: Designability’s design guidance flags mounting a unit on a raised plinth as a common pitfall that quietly defeats reach-range compliance, even when the unit itself is fully compliant
Lighting and contrast: good lighting and colour contrast around the bay help drivers with visual impairments locate the charger and its controls
Drainage: standing water on the approach surface is a hazard for wheelchair castors and walking aids
Coordinate bay markings and dropped-kerb works with your local authority’s street-works team early, since these changes often need separate permissions from the charger installation itself.
Signage, data and the OCPI Accessibility Extension
A driver who cannot find out whether a charger suits their needs before setting off has effectively been excluded from it. The OCPI Accessibility Extension exists to solve exactly this: it lets operators publish structured accessibility attributes, such as bay width, kerb access and cable-management type, so drivers can filter for suitable chargers before they travel.
Energy Saving Trust recommends operators adopt the extension precisely because information gaps are often what makes an otherwise usable site fail in practice. Alongside data, get the physical basics right:
Clear, high-contrast on-site signage labelling sockets and controls
Tactile or acoustic feedback where controls are unlabelled or hard to see
Real-time status information, since app-only status checks exclude drivers without a compatible phone
Published attributes covering kerb access, bay width and cable-assist type
Procurement, regulation and funding: who is responsible for what
The Public Charge Point Regulations 2023 set out operator obligations around reliability, pricing transparency and payment methods for public charge points, and accessibility specification sits alongside these duties rather than replacing them.
Responsibility splits roughly three ways:
Site owner or procurer: sets accessibility requirements at tender stage, referencing PAS 1899 clauses explicitly rather than leaving them implied
Installer: delivers to spec, tests reach and force with real users, and documents compliance
Operator: maintains the unit, publishes accurate accessibility data and keeps signage current
OZEV grant routes can support installation costs, and specifying PAS 1899 compliance at the tender stage, rather than retrofitting it later, is the cheaper route by a wide margin. Consult Inclusive Mobility guidance for street-works and kerb standards, and see how the Public Charge Point Regulations apply to your specific site type.
A practical checklist from survey to handover
Use this sequence on-site rather than treating accessibility as a final inspection item:
Survey: measure reach from the actual approach ground level, not an assumed kerb height
Specify: reference PAS 1899 clauses by number, list required OCPI attributes, and name the cable-management type
Install: confirm no raised plinths, check bay dimensions against Inclusive Mobility standards
Test: run insertion, removal and cover-operation checks with a representative range of users before handover
Publish: submit accessibility attributes via OCPI and confirm signage is installed and legible
Maintain: schedule recurring checks on socket force, cable condition and signage legibility, since wear degrades accessibility faster than general function
Pro Tip: Brief your maintenance and any on-site or emergency-response staff on what an accessible bay should look like when it is working correctly. A charger can drift out of compliance long before it visibly breaks.
The most common red flag is a unit that passed hardware inspection but sits on a plinth, behind a kerb, or without any published accessibility data. All three failures are avoidable at the design stage.
Case studies and where to go for further guidance
Local authority trials give a realistic picture of where accessible charging goes wrong in practice. The Redbridge accessible EV charge point trial recorded recurring issues including insufficient manoeuvring space, missing dropped kerbs and inconsistent signage, the same faults that PAS 1899 and Designability’s guidance were written to prevent.
For further reading:
Designability’s free design guidance PDF includes prototypes and installation pitfalls
Energy Saving Trust’s PAS 1899 summary explains the standard in plain terms
The full PAS 1899 specification remains the definitive reference
How Swift Charging approaches accessible public charging projects
We treat accessibility as a specification decision, not an afterthought fixed at snagging stage. Our process runs from site survey through design, installation and ongoing management, with PAS 1899 clauses and OCPI attributes built into the design brief from day one rather than checked retrospectively. Where projects qualify, we help clients identify and apply for OZEV grant support to offset installation costs. Getting reach, bay layout and published data right the first time is always cheaper than retrofitting.
— Swift Charging
How Swift Charging can help with your accessible charging project
Getting PAS 1899 right on paper is one thing; getting reach measurements, bay dimensions and OCPI data right on a live site is another. A specialist commercial EV charging provider designs and installs infrastructure with accessibility built into the specification from the survey stage, not bolted on afterwards.
The full project typically includes site survey, PAS 1899-aware design, installation, commissioning, ongoing maintenance, and support identifying and applying for available OZEV grant funding where your project qualifies. If you’re planning a public, workplace or destination charging installation and need it to genuinely work for disabled drivers rather than merely tick a compliance box, request a site survey for your Chichester site or get in touch about installations in Eastbourne, Farnborough or Farnham to start the conversation.
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